Through A Calender
by The Integrator
Summary: The needles of the clock spin backwards madly. It is a race against time, but how will you win it if the finish line is where you start?


**THROUGH A CALENDER**

(This story is dedicated to Cool Rameez, Who fell in love, then fell out of love and broke his pelvis)

BY SHAHBAZ SHEIKH.

_Prologue:_

It was a large, gloomy conference room. A beautiful, oval table lay in the middle of the room.

The word "TECHNODROME" was inscribed on the table. Four seats were placed around that table. On the head seat sat an elderly man about 50 years of age. He had long grey hair, tiny eyes, pointed nose and he wore a suit that could be sold to run a large charity organization for an year. He was Mirza Tabrez Asad Baig, your typical shrewd 'start from shit of billionaire-dome' tycoon. To his left sat his chief of staff Majid Mohsen, a short ugly bald man with all the experience in the world one requires to run a business empire. Opposite to Majid Mohsen sat another old man with a beard by the name of Uzair Hassan, a big, fat and dangerous looking person. And to Uzair Hassan's right, opposite to Mirza Tabrez was a young man by the name of Ammar Yasir Zaidi.

"Your method is expensive, time consuming and risky. It would require precision and skills of the highest level, Mr. Ammar." Mirza Tabrez said in his cold stern voice directly looking at Ammar.

"In addition to that, it is full of bull shit and has no chance in hell of succeeding." Added Uzair Hassan in his rough unfriendly voice. "I say we do it conventionally. Violence has all the answers you want."

"Quite on the contrary, your stupid violent approach to every matter has cost us innumerable times in the past." Chief of staff Majid Mohsen said leaving Uzair glaring at him angrily.

"Hmm…. I don't know. Your invention sends people back in time a 150 years. And you somehow want to retrieve the formula from there." Mirza Tabrez said thoughtfully ignoring his feuding chief of staff and hit man.

"Why cant we just break open his skull and get the goddamn formula from there? I have done it before for you Tabrez, I can do it again." Uzair cried banging loudly on the table. "This time travel thing is too far fetched and too ridicules to follow!"

"If any one lays a finger on him the "TECHNODROME" will be the first to be questioned. He denied our offer in public, in front of all our friends and foes. Why don't you understand this you stupid mutt?" Majid to got angry.

"Gentlemen!" Mirza Tabrez said raising his hand. After a pause he said to Ammar "Mr. Ammar, what guarantee do you give me that your operation will succeed?"

"Well… the system setup will take money. But the chances of success are pretty good. If every thing goes as planned there should be no reason why it wouldn't work. And besides, I don't think you have any other way of stealing…. Um.. I mean getting that formula." Ammar said nervously.

Mirza Tabrez looked at Majid Mohsen as he had done for so many years.

"I think we should do it. The investment is huge but it is nothing compared to the payoff. I say we take the chance." Majid said.

"Very well then… I will give you what you want." Mirza Tabrez said in a decisive voice leaving Ammar smiling goofily and Uzair clutching his fists under the table.

_Overdose Of An Elephant Tranquilizer:_

Rema was smiling at Ayaz, waving her dupatta in the air. Ayaz couldn't stop smiling as well. He turned the page and this time Rema was sitting on a chair looking to her right.

"Sir jee! The car is ready…." Ayaz quickly snapped the book shut and looked up at the peon.

"You idiot! How many times have I told you to knock at the door before you bring your face in." Ayaz exclaimed angrily, afraid the peon might have seen him staring dreamingly at his private journal. Ayaz had been following super star Rema's carrier for 10 years now. He had collected many of her pictures from various magazines and news papers and put them in his secret journal which he kept in the drawer of his office and looked at when he was having a bad day. He had even scrapped one or two of her posters from walls, of course after making sure no one was looking. He didn't consider himself a pervert. Just a fan.

"Sir jee! The car….." the peon started again.

"Yeah yeah! Shut up! I am coming." Ayaz Ahmed Khan said putting his things in the brief case.

Ayaz Ahmed Khan lived in the suburbs of Karachi. He ran a huge clinic in middle of the city. Every day countless patients came to him for treatment. But many thought that being the owner of a large hospital like clinic, he should have been 10 times richer than he is now. The reason for this opinion was simple. He treated most of his patients for free. His father Neyaz Ahmed Khan had died recently leaving him to run the family "business" alone. Neyaz Ahmed Khan was a generous and pious person and had always told his son to use the gift of healing that god had bestowed them with for the benefit of mankind and in the process try to make an honest living. As this had been their tradition for generations. Ayaz of course being a 27 year old man of the 21st century found it hard to swallow. But he did nevertheless.

He had had a hard day, treating almost 50 people (most of whom did not carry wallets) in a very busy span of 9 hours. Being a homeopathic doctor Ayaz did not specialize on any particular field of medicine. He knew a little about every thing, from the knowledge his father had passed on to him and a little he had attained on his own during the 3 years at a homeopathic academy in Multan.

There were still some people left in the waiting hall but the peon had told them that the doctor will see them tomorrow. Ayaz picked his bag and walked out of his office and then out of the building leaving the peon to lock up after him. Night had fallen but the streets were still busy outside, as you would expect in the center of a large city. No wonder why the peon took so much pride in bringing Ayaz's car from the parking area to the front of the clinic. It was a nightmare to bring out a tricycle from the side street and park it on the main street, let alone a car.

Ayaz got into his car and started to battle his way home. An hour later he was back home sitting on the couch sipping coffee. He felt alone in his house even when his parents were alive, and now that they were both dead he felt miserable.

"I should get married… and have children. 12 of them at least. And then get married again and then have 12 more. This house is killing me." Ayaz said out loud. He thought he heard giggling from the other room.

'Is someone there…' he thought. But he didn't get a chance to investigate. The coffee mug dropped out of his hand and he felt drowsy and weak.

'I should really get married!' those were the last words that came to his mind and he crashed to the floor.

Two men emerged from the other room.

"You moron, he heard you giggle. We almost got caught!" One of them scolded the other.

"Relax man! The drug I put in the coffee pod can easily take down an elephant." The other one said in his tiny squeaky voice. "Elephant is small, it can tranquilize a blue whale… even a blue whale is small, this baby can knock out a …. a…. hey Jabar, is there any thing bigger than a blue whale?"

"Your mothers butt…. Just shut up and help me get him in the van." Jabar replied.

_A Fall From Grace:_

Ayaz felt as if the he was spinning like a top. He tried to open his eyes but he couldn't, he tried to scream but he couldn't do that either. The vertigo was making his senses shift from left to right, or was the shift right to left? He couldn't tell. And then he felt like he was being scratched and burned. He was flying in the air, he was sure of that because strong winds slapping his face. And in the midst of this mysterious agony, it all stopped. And Ayaz felt as if he landed on a hard surface, face first.

"Ahhh." Ayaz said opening his eyes slowly and turned on his back. The sun was shinning on his face. He covered his eyes and realized that his glasses were missing. He slowly got up. His body was aching and as he looked at himself he found out that his clothes were torn from place to place and scratches and 1st degree burns covered his body.

'What happened?' he thought looking around. He was in a desert of some sort. He started to walk slowly when he heard a crunch. He looked down at his feet and realized that he had just stepped on his glasses and crushed one of the lenses.

"Damn it!" He said picking up his glasses and putting them on. Where was he? The last thing he remembered was drinking coffee on his couch and now this.

'Am I dreaming?' He thought. 'Yes! I am dreaming. That's the only explanation of how I got here. Okay now. I gotta get to my clinic in the morning so I have to wake up. But how?' His train of thought was endless. He started to pinch himself on the arm because that was the only way he knew of waking up from a dream. He felt pretty stupid doing it but he tried it a couple of times. It didn't work. That was when a terrifying thought occurred to him.

'Is this all real? What do I do now…." Ayaz started to walk in a direction as that was the only thing he could think of doing. That was when he noticed that on the horizon a storm of dust was emerging. He stopped and narrowed his eyes to see what that was all about. He couldn't see too well with one of the lens missing. Then he heard faint foot steps on running horses. He stood there motion less and saw 3 horses emerge out of the cloud of dust. The sound of there tramping getting louder and louder.

"Hey! Hello! Over here…" Ayaz started brandishing his arms in the air. Finally someone in this deserted desert. The 3 horses came near and stopped. 2 of the riders were white and were wearing red uniforms and looked as if they were foreigners. The other man was dark and wore what seemed to Ayaz some kind of Rajestani desert outfit.

"Another mutineer! Seize him Raju!" One of the white man said in a heavy English accent before Ayaz could say anything. The dark man got off his horse and took out a long antique rifle from behind his back and pointed at Ayaz.

"Kneel down and put your hands behind your back!" Raju said in a rough voice.

"Look sir! I appear to be lost in this….." Ayaz tried to explain whatever he could but was interrupted.

"Silence imbecile!" The other white man cried.

"Sir! This man wears strange clothes." The first one said.

"Hmmm.. You are right. He wears such rags to confuse us." The other white man replied.

Ayaz felt danger. His sixth sense told him that he was in some serious trouble. Raju shoved the barrel of the rifle towards his face and Ayaz thought it was best to do what he said. Raju hung the rifle back on his back and started to tie a rope around Ayaz' neck.

"Who are you people?" Ayaz asked and the answer given was in the form of a right hand blow from Raju.

"Shut up!" Raju then started to tie Ayaz' hands behind his back. He then got back on his horse with the other end of the rope around Ayaz neck in his hand. The horses started to walk and Ayaz had no choice but to walk with them. Still recovering from the sharp blow Ayaz started to wonder what really had happened. Who were these guys? Where were they taking him? Ayaz head was spinning. Was it because of the heat of the desert of because of Raju's right hand? Actually it was because of the sheer confusion Ayaz was in. He looked up to the sky from where he thought he had fallen from.

'God…..' he thought.

_A Meeting With A Long Deceased Relative:_

They walked about a mile before they came to a place which seemed to Ayaz as some kind of a desert outpost. There were two buildings, one large and one small. There was also a stable for horses and a courtyard. The walls were made in a hurry with burnt bricks but Ayaz guessed they were strong and solid. Guards in red uniforms were all around the buildings. Again, they were all white. Judging from the clothes the guards wore and the architecture of the buildings Ayaz felt that he was in the era of British rule in India. But how? He had read and heard a lot of stories in which people traveled back and forth in time. But he never thought that any wonder of science could make time travel possible. Yet he was here a prisoner, being called an imbecile and a mutineer by white men with British accents.

'I have got to be dreaming!' Ayaz thought and tried to pinch his left palm with his right hand fingers behind his back. The two white men took there horses to the smaller building which Ayaz guessed was an office, while Raju took or rather dragged Ayaz into the bigger building. There were iron bars on the windows from which it was evident that it was a prison.

Inside the building there were numerous cells. Each cell was a 10 by 10 feet square room with one small window and a small door. Both protected with iron bars. Red uniformed guards were every where inside as well. Raju took Ayaz to one of the cells and cut off his ropes. A guard opened the door and Raju kicked Ayaz in the buttocks and he went sailing into the cell landing face first for the second time in the day. But what disgusted Ayaz most was the fact that during the fall his last remaining lens also broke off.

"Shit! You Sonofabitch! Bastard!" Ayaz cursed loudly at Raju's grinning face.

" How well can you see without those?" Ayaz heard a voice from above. He looked up and saw a young man standing over him.

"Fine! I can live." Ayaz replied getting up. Something about the young man made him familiar to Ayaz. He was tall, about 29 or 30, chestnut complexion and had black hair. Ayaz narrowed his eyes and looked closely at the young man.

"What are you looking at so closely?" The man said wiping his nose with the back of his hand.

"No, nothing is coming out of your nose. This scar at your forehead, where did you get that. I have seen it before." Ayaz said still looking with peering eyes at his face.

"It's a birthmark. Anyway my name is…" the man held out his hand.

"Fayyaz Ahmed Khan?" Ayaz said shaking his hand.

"Hey! Good guess. How did you know that?" The man asked smiling.

Ayaz' jaw dropped. He was still looking at the mans face.

"Grandpa!" Ayaz whispered and Fayyaz' smile vanished.

_The Great Escape From The Firing Squad:_

"So according to you I am the father of your father. I will marry a girl name Batool and have only one child which I will name Neyaz, who will expand my medicine practice to a really large scale and thousands of people will then be able to benefit from my 'revolutionary' potion." Fayyaz was squatting in the corner of the cell talking to Ayaz who was standing against the door.

"Yes. That's how it will happen." Ayaz said.

On an ordinary day he would have certified himself 'stupid' upon saying what he had said to Fayyaz. But this was no ordinary day. He had somehow journeyed back in time, been captured by British soldiers and met a man having an exactly similar scar on his forehead which Ayaz had seen on the forehead of his grandfather in a black and white family portrait. Of course grandpa was much older than the man in front of him in that portrait but the scar was unmistakable.

Ayaz didn't want to say this but he just couldn't hold it any longer. So he asked:

"What….. what year is this?"

"Its 1862. You know so much but you don't even know what year it is. You look like a sensible person. But I am starting to have second thoughts about your mental health."

"Well… you know, I have come from the future. From 1995 actually." Ayaz replied, again feeling stupid.

"And with all that you have told me about my future, which is actually your history, you expect me to believe that?" Fayyaz asked.

"No. I don't expect you to believe me." Ayaz had given up. He had told Fayyaz every thing he had 'figured out', but of course Fayyaz thought that he was just babbling like an idiot.

'I must have traveled real fast. The speed of light I think.' Ayaz thought looking at the scratches and burns on his hand and arms. 'But why the hell…..'

"You know there are a lot of holes in your… or should I say in my story that you have told me. For instance I was already engaged to a girl name Zahra before the white pigs captured me. And if I somehow get out of here I plan to marry Zahra and not Batool of whom by the way I have never heard of. And secondly you mentioned that I prepared a potion for remedy of teeth aches by accident when I was 21 which made me famous. Well I am 29 now and in all the years of my medicine making, I have never even thought about teeth."

"But if I am lying then how did I know your name? And haven't you thought about the clothes I am wearing. Have you ever seen any one wear clothes like these in your… this time?" Ayaz was wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt.

"I don't know how you got my name. And yes I have never seen clothes as dirty and torn like you are wearing. But I don't believe you." Fayyaz said and looked away.

The day ended and night fell. Fayyaz spent the night sleeping while Ayaz spent his searching for a pen and a paper. When he did find them in Fayyaz' old coat, he spent hours scribbling something on it.

The next day dawned with the shooting of rifles. Both Ayaz and Fayyaz woke up startled. Fayyaz was the one who calmed down first.

"What is happening?" Ayaz asked.

"They executed another. Maybe tomorrow it will be us." Fayyaz said looking out side the barred windows. Ayaz got up and went to the window too. He saw 6 soldiers standing in a line facing a wall and the same officer who had caught him standing besides the line holding a sword. By the wall a man stood blind folded. While another lay on the floor bleeding whom Ayaz presumed was just shot. All of a sudden the officer took his sword up in the air and brought it down. All soldiers shot their rifles and the remaining prisoner fell down on the ground, blood coming out of his chest and head.

Horrified Ayaz took a step back. His eyes widened.

"So you mean we can be next?"

"No. I think that we are PROBABLY next. You see these two men were in the cell next to ours." Fayyaz replied coolly.

"What are our chances of escape?" Ayaz tried to act brave.

"No chance in hell."

"Come on man! I am serious."

"So am I. But of course if you can plunge us into the future somehow… we will be happily out of here."

It was obvious that Fayyaz had given up on life and was mentally ready to die. But Ayaz could not accept the fact that he was going to die tomorrow.

"There has to be a way! I don't wanna die tomorrow! I cant die. I am too young to die." It was obvious that Ayaz was loosing it. The horror of the execution and the fear of death was maddening him.

"You wont die tomorrow fancy pants." It was Raju's ugly face grinning from behind the bars of the door. His yellow, rotting teeth disgusted Ayaz, but he was too scared to mention it.

"Really! I wont? You are letting me go?" Ayaz was on the verge of crying.

"Nah! We will just kill you today instead of tomorrow." Raju said, his grin becoming deeper.

"You know. Hurry through the job. This heat is really getting onto the nerves of Khan Bahadur."

"So how much did the white pigs pay you that you sold your soul to them?" Fayyaz said in an angry tone.

"More then you will earn in a life time." Raju replied with daggers in his voice and his grin disappearing.

"Betrayal. Runs in your family doesn't it?" Fayyaz replied. More daggers.

"Enough!" Raju shouted and opened the cell door. Two guard with rifles stormed into the cell. The chained Ayaz' and Fayyaz' hands and necks together. Then they dragged them outside to the courtyard where the other two prisoners were shot. Their blood was still wet on the ground and the wall. Upon seeing this Ayaz began to cry.

"Don't act like a coward. We die for freedom. You should be proud of your self. You are to be martyred." Fayyaz said.

"I am suppose to be a free man. This is not my war. I was not even born in this age." Ayaz replied crying.

"You cant be my grandson." Fayyaz said.

The soldiers made them stand against the wall.

"Any last wishes, bastards?" Raju said mockingly.

"Please let me go." Ayaz cried out.

"Yeah! I have a last wish. I want to smoke a cigarette." Fayyaz said ignoring Ayaz.

Raju looked behind at the officer. The officer nodded and walked up to Fayyaz.

"You know young man! Fags do not come cheap. But since you have been a good prisoner I will let you smoke one." The officer said. He was putting his sword back in the sword case to take out a cigarette from his coat when with the speed of light Fayyaz snatched the sword from his hand. And with twice the speed of light Fayyaz had the chain hanging between his and Ayaz' hand around the officers neck.

The officer was a now a human shield between Fayyaz and the soldiers with the rifles. The soldier startled with what had occurred loaded the guns and started to aim for Fayyaz.

"Don't shoot you idiots." The officer cried in a squeaky voice. Fayyaz was choking him from the chain.

"Put the guns down and open the chain from his hand and neck." Fayyaz barked tightening his grip. The soldiers and Raju started to look at each others faces.

"Do it……" The officer croaked. And so they did. Ayaz picked up both the rifles and pointed one of them to the soldiers and Raju.

_Mutiny:_

Four hours later Fayyaz and Ayaz were riding horses into a sun setting horizon. Fayyaz had made Raju open all the cell doors and let the prisoners free. Upon being set free the inmates attacked the soldiers who were helplessly watching the proceedings with their commanding officer held hostage at the sharp point of his own sword. Outnumbered 3:1, but armed the soldiers did not hesitate firing. Many prisoners died in the first wave of the shooting. But since the English rifles took 2 minutes to reload melee combat broke out through out the prison. Amidst the chaos and carnage, Fayyaz killed the officer and stole two horses with Ayaz right behind him and they rode away from the outpost as quickly as they could.

They rode all day aimlessly. When night fell, they finally got to a small oasis where they camped.

"It makes perfect sense! We just cheated death!" Ayaz said. He couldn't get over the fact that the firing squad hadn't killed them. The mutiny at the outpost had left him senseless. If he hadn't followed Fayyaz to the horses, he was sure he would have been dead by now. Either by an English bullet or a mutineers knife. He had never felt more relived and happy in his life.

"Yeah we cheated death. But what makes sense?" Fayyaz asked. They were sitting under a tree. The moon was full and it was chilly in the night.

"We miraculously escaped. Had we been killed today I wouldn't have been born years later. And your family tree would have ended right then." Ayaz explained hoping that Fayyaz wouldn't make fun of him this time.

"You still haven't given up on that crazy theory of yours. Look man! I know you like me and I saved your life and all, but that doesn't mean I am your grandfather. And besides. You are too much of a sissy to be my family." Fayyaz replied smiling.

"Well fine! Don't believe me. But now I will try to complete history. You know, try and fill in a blank." Ayaz said pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket. "Here! This is the formula to the potion which you were SUPPOSE to invent, but you never thought about teeth all this time."

"What is it?" Fayyaz asked taking the paper from him.

"It's a kind of a magical remedy for tooth ache. You know you somehow got this and passed it to my father who passed it to me. In my time I have treated many from this medicine. Its simply great. Any kind of tooth aches disappears in minutes. Keep it. I wrote down the formula in the cell last night." Ayaz said, feeling as if he had done something really intelligent and that it would be remembered in history for ever.

"Thanks….. son." Fayyaz laughed, carefully folding the paper into his old coat. "Hey look. I have to pee. While I am away go look into the pockets of the horses' saddles. Maybe there is something to eat in them. I am starving. I haven't eaten for two days and two nights."

"Okay. " Ayaz got up and went to the tied horses while Fayyaz went in search for a suitable place to pee. Ayaz opened the pocket in one of the horses saddle. Nothing. So he opened the pocket of the other horse. He found a glossy paper wrapping something soft inside. He unwrapped the paper and there were loafs of bread inside.

"Alright! Hey Fayyaz there is bread here!" Ayaz said and looked behind. Fayyaz was no where in sight. "Well! I'll start without him. I haven't eaten anything since 1995."  
Ayaz started to laugh at his own joke. But a smiling face in the moon light made him stop in mid-laugh. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Electric charges began to strike his brain and he felt dizzy and faint. The loaf of bread fell from his hand.

"Sonofabitch!" Ayaz said. "Sonofabitch you robbed me!"

Ayaz put the glossy paper in his pocket and started to run in the direction where Fayyaz had gone.

_Return Of A Favorite Sweet Heart:_

On any other night Rema smiling in the moon light would have made Ayaz a very happy man. But today it had shocked him and almost knocked him out. As he had unwrapped the glossy paper his eye caught Rema's picture on it. Even though it was dark but the moon light was enough for Ayaz to recognize his favorite personality.

So Ayaz ran after Fayyaz, a zillion thoughts bombarding his head.

'Who was Fayyaz?'

'Where was he?'

'This cant be 1865, how did Rema's poster get here?'

'Then what is all this?'

He kept running for about a minute until he came to a small hill. He climbed it and on the other side he saw yet another wonder of the 21st century (not as wonderful as Rema of course). A shinny black helicopter with "TECHNODROME" written in white on its side . There were some men standing with Fayyaz besides the helicopter. One of them had an automatic gun with him. Ayaz ducked behind a rock. He wanted to know what the men were talking about.

"Good work! I must say that you have done something no one else could achieve." An old long haired man in an expensive jacket was saying, his gloves shinning in the moon light.

"Thanks. Now as per the contract, I would like to have my 5 million rupees." A young chubby man replied.

"But we have already paid you 5 million rupees." A short old man standing besides the long haired one said.

"Yes! But that was the first half. I spent it all on this setup. The second half was suppose to be paid after we get you the formula." The chubby man replied a little nervous. "I have the contract right here."

"Jackass! You really didn't expect us to pay you after you get us the formula did you?" A big bearded man standing on the other side of the long haired man said loudly.

"But I have the written contract right here. I gave you the formula and now I want my money." The chubby man said.

"Shove that contract up your ass son. And be happy with what you have." The big man said.

"You know what this is? A gauge 12 automatic shotgun. It can kill an elephant in 3 seconds. Hell! An elephant is small. It can kill a blue whale in 3 seconds. Do you want me to press the trigger? Huh?" A small man with a gun said in his squeaky voice.

"Don't do this. I deserve that money. I worked very hard." The chubby man said.

"Have a nice life Mr. Ammar. Mr. Uzair, Mr. Majid let us leave." The long haired man said and turned to get into the helicopter.

"Hey! You cant leave like this. You big fuck!" It was Fayyaz this time. He tried to grab the long haired man from his jacket. But the small man didn't give him a chance. He pulled the trigger of his shotgun and a hole emerged in Fayyaz' belly with a loud bang. Fayyaz fell on the sand. Life less.

"I told you it could kill a blue whale." The small man squeaked laughing.

"Serves you right you little shit. Don't even think about laying your hands on Mr. Tabrez." The short old man said getting into the chopper with all the others, leaving the Ammar standing shocked and Fayyaz dead.

The chopper flew off and both Ayaz and the chubby man saw it disappear over the horizon. Ayaz came out from behind the rock and walked to the Ammar.

"Are you okay?" Ayaz asked. Ammar was still looking at the horizon.

"I am sorry. I let them have your teeth medicine." Ammar replied sitting down on the sand.

"So who are you anyway. And what was that all about?" Ayaz asked sitting down with him.

"I am Ammar. I belong to the Karachi Theater and Arts Society. I was there in that party when you declined Mirza Tabrez' offer of 10 million rupees for that medicine of yours. After that the "TECHNODROME" which is Mirza Tabrez empire tried to disintegrate your medicines formula so that they can make it on their own. But no matter how hard hey tried they just couldn't isolate its ingredients. Since only you knew the formula thus they couldn't do anything about it. They couldn't get it out from you by force, as every one saw your bitter conversation with Mirza Tabrez at that party and if anything happened to you, Mirza Tabrez would be in trouble."

"Yeah! I told that freak that I wasn't going to give him something to make millions with when I was giving it to people for free. That medicine was to bring relief to those who suffer. Its priceless but my father told me never to sell it to anyone, as that would defeat the purpose of its creation."

"Yes! So after that I came up with this idea that we kidnap you and put you in this setup. Make you meet your grand father and then he would make you give up the formula. After that we drug you and place you back in your home. And you wouldn't even know what happened. I did a bit of research and found your grandfathers picture. So I got Shahid there who looked like Fayyaz Ahmed Khan and gave him the key role of all this drama."

"So you mean this was all a setup?"

"Yeah. The British, the prison, the rifles, the costumes, the killings, the other prisoners. They were all a part of my setup. I am from the Karachi Theater and Arts Society so finding these many extras was no problem. But I must say that getting all those people to look like British took some amount of makeup. But the pay off was so huge, we did it. All the actors have packed up and are probably home by now."

"I should kill you right now. But I have seen enough killing today." Ayaz said.

"Will you go to the police?" Ammar took his eyes of the horizon for the first time.

"No. I cant believe all this. Let alone the cops. I am feeling pretty stupid by the way. Thinking I had traveled back in time and met my grandfather and all." Ayaz said getting up. Ammar covered his face with his hands.

"I worked so hard."

_Epilogue:_

Two years later Ayaz was sitting on the same couch reading the morning paper. After getting home from the 'past', the first big thing he did was got married. Or that was rather the second big thing he did. The first one was the burning of his beloved secret journal. He couldn't look at Rema any more. She reminded him of the shocking moment he had been in when he had unwrapped the paper containing the loafs of bread. He almost had had an heart attack. Now he was living happily with his wife and running his clinic like he had been doing for years.

A small news caught his eye on the news paper:

_"Extensive use of the famous 'Tooth Fruit' causes throat cancer. Law suite filed against 'Tooth Fruit' makers the "TECHNODROME" by the 'Citizens Doctors Liaison Committee'." _

"You greedy bastards." Ayaz laughed out loud.

"What happened?" Ayaz' wife called from the kitchen. But Ayaz just couldn't stop laughing.

"Are you okay?" His wife called again.

"Those greedy bastards……" Ayaz laughed that whole day.

Authors Note: If any character in this story resembles any real live human being, and that human being is offended by the way he was portrayed in this story, then that human being can go fuck himself. (I don't give a shit about you… I am the author and I can do anything I want.)


End file.
